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War of Sand and Snow
The War of Sand and Snow was a campaign in which Settra the Imperishable would do battle against the Warriors of Chaos in a bid at vengeance, lasting from 2281 to 2286 IC. Battle of the Vultures Settra the Imperishable had ruled as the Undead king of all Nehekhara for over a millennia when an army of marauding tribesmen from the frozen north made landfall on the baking shores of Nehekhara. The barbaric warriors plundered several tombs before the Skeleton Warriors of Settra's legions began to rise from the sands to bar their escape. Even as the Marauders prepared to face this threat, the skies began to darken. The barbarians gazed to the heavens, and a heartbeat later, a cloud of arrows fell amongst them that cut down hundreds of warriors. In the wake of the volley, vast flocks of Carrion descended upon the wounded and the dying, razor-sharp beaks tearing open throats and bellies. The tribe's chieftain, Valgar the Butcher, ordered a savage counter-attack, unleashing packs of bloodthirsty Warhounds that tore the Carrion apart in a frenzied gnashing of teeth. Valgar then redressed his surviving warriors' ranks and prepared to meet the approaching Skeleton battleline. Axes clashed with spears as the two forces collided, but wherever Valgar fought, the Undead were hewn by his axe or crushed beneath the hooves of his daemonic steed. Despite Valgar's fearsome skill, his forces were vastly outnumbered and his own warriors were growing tired, their strength sapped by the punishing glare of the desert sun. In the distance, Valgar could see a single figure emerge through the heat-haze, a majestic warrior riding forward on a golden chariot. Valgar raised his rune-covered axe to the air and bellowed a challenge to the new-comer -- a challenge that was answered with a rumble of thunder. That figure was none other than Settra the Imperishable, and he smashed into the invaders with the wrath of the ancient gods, driving a bloody path towards Valga. As the two generals collided, Settra swung his enchanted blade in a mighty arc that decapitated Valgar's daemonic mount in a single blow. Even as Valgar's steed was slain from beneath him, the chieftain's axe glowed with baleful energy, and it was suddenly wreathed in sorcerous flames. The axe bit deep into Settra's chest and set his form ablaze. Before Valgar could enjoy his victory, Settra's body exploded into a ravenous swarm of beetles that stripped the chieftain's flesh from his bones before flying back to the Great Pyramid of Khemri to regenerate the Tomb King's immortal form. Amidst the carnage, Valgar's lieutenant, Khagul Bloodfist, stooped down to pick up Settra's regal crown before rallying the surviving tribesmen and driving a path through the skeletal shield-wall back to the coast. Only a dozen Marauders managed to survive and escape back to their frozen realm, bloodied, but rich beyond their wildest dreams. Settra's Revenge It was a decade before Settra remerged from his sarcophagus, his body restored but his heart burning with the need for vengeance. The men of the north had not only dared to enter his realm, soiling the desert with their barbaric feet, they had the temerity to face him in battle, even going so far as to strike him down. However, most heinous of all crimes had been the bold act of laying their lowborn hands upon the Crown of Nehekhara -- a deed that brought with it a sentence of death. Settra the Imperishable would punish the barbarians for their insolence by staining the snows of their homeland red with their blood. The King of Nehekhara turned to his Liche Priests and ordered them to awaken his vassal kings; the combined might of Khemri's armies was going to war. Settra's war fleets sailed north, towards the frozen wastelands, laden with legions of Undead soldiers and war-constructs. The King of Nehekhara swore that only when every last gold coin was recovered, and every one of the barbarians who had escaped his wrath a decade ago was slain, would he return to Khemri. Each of those men had become a chieftain in their own right, with the wealth they brought back from the Land of the Dead securing them much power and many followers. Several had become Champions of Chaos and now they led whole tribes of merciless warriors and mutated monsters. Settra's Warhost collided with the iron-clad Warriors of Chaos across the entire length of the northern lands. Enormous statues strode relentlessly through driving blizzards, and regiments of Skeleton Chariots tirelessly ploughed through snow-drifts in their hunt for the guilty. Untold thousands of men were slaughtered upon the swords and spears of Settra's host as tribe after tribe was destroyed. Dragon Ogres were cut down by powerful Ushabti, Trolls were turned into pillars of sand by Sepulchral Stalkers and grotesque Giants were slain by the monstrous claws of ferocious Necrosphinxes. Driven by Settra's unyielding will, the legions of Nehekhara were unstoppable. Within five years only one of the dozen Marauders remained alive, and only a single treasure -- the Crown of Nehekhara -- remained unclaimed. Settra's revenge was almost at hand. The Dead and the Damned After a long trek across the Hellwyrm Glacier, Settra's legions clashed with the warhost of Khagul Bloodfist -- the last and most powerful of the Marauders and the one who had stolen Settra's Crown all those years ago. In the intervening years, Khagul's victories had seen him become a mighty Champion of Chaos, imbued with the power of the Dark Gods whose names men fear to speak. Khagul commanded a great horde of Chaos, for his fame was such that tribesmen and warbands from leagues around flocked to his blood-drenched banner. It was not only the Chaos Gods who had noticed the deeds of this warrior, for Prince Apophas, the Cursed Scarab Lord, saw in Khagul a soul that might be the equal of his own; a spirit that could buy his freedom from the tortures of the Nehekharan Underworld. So it was that whilst Settra led the fight against the assembled Chaos horde, carving his way through their armoured ranks, Apophas ambushed the unsuspecting Khagul. The Chaos Champion had just finished dismembering a Tomb Scorpion when he was suddenly enveloped a swarm of black beetles, which obscured his vision before coalescing into a shape resembling that of a man. The figure clutched a dagger in one hand, and his leering skull seemed to stare into Khagul's very soul. Without pause, Khagul's bodyguard launched themselves at the assassin, but the figure opened its mouth and vomited forth a surge of insects that drowned them beneath chitinous bodies. Apophas stalked towards his target, and Khagul readied his axe. The Chaos Champion hacked at the figure with frenzied swipes, but it was to no avail. Every time Khagul cut into Apophas' body a tide of scuttling scarabs would flow over the wound. In frustration, he raised his axe high above his head, preparing to strike the assassin's skull from its shoulders but, before the stroke fell, Apophas had slashed his dagger across the champion's throat. Khagul's blood burst forth in an arterial spray, and he slumped to his knees. Apophas drew the warrior's soul from his mortal body, capturing it before dragging it into the Underworld for all eternity. With the death of Khagul, the cohesion of the Chaos warhost crumbled. The northern tribesmen reverted to their crude, beserk nature, and they were easily dashed against Settra's disciplined battle lines. The King of all Nehekhara smashed into the ranks of mortals time and again, leaving a trail of fire and death in his wake. Against this onslaught, the hearts of men faltered, and the barbaric tribesmen turned tail and fled, only to be run down by regiments of Undead cavalry that Settra had positioned for just such a task. Only the armoured warriors of the Chaos host stood their ground, and they fought against Khemri's war-statues in a clash of steel and stone, but when Settra's chariot legions smashed into the Chaos Warriors' flanks, they too were massacred. It would be two more days before Settra's legions butchered the final remnants of the Chaos horde, the bloody campaign ending when Settra himself charged through a hailstorm to slay a lightning wreathed Shaggoth. The snow plains were littered with the bodies of the dead, and from amidst the corpses Settra retrieved the bloodstained Crown of Nehekhara. Settra's treasures had finally been recovered and those who had wronged him now lay dead at his feet. Such was the fate for any who dared oppose the will of Settra the Imperishable. Source * : Warhammer Armies: Tomb Kings (8th Edition) ** : pg. 22 ** : pg. 23 * : Warhammer Armies: Warriors of Chaos (8th Edition) ** : pg. 14 Category:Campaign Category:Tomb Kings Category:Warriors of Chaos Category:S Category:W